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USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> A Report on the Faculty Senate Retreat with Dr. Saunders
Post Info TOPIC: A Report on the Faculty Senate Retreat with Dr. Saunders
Reporter


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A Report on the Faculty Senate Retreat with Dr. Saunders
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Report on the All-Day Meeting
Faculty Senate and President Saunders

The Faculty Senate met with President Martha Saunders in a several hour meeting, Thursday Aug. 16. The following are highlights.

1. Fall convocation will be Sept. 24. All faculty should plan to attend. President Saunders will deliver a \State of the University" message.

2. National search for the Provost position begins Aug. 21. A national search firm has been hired to seek candidates. The committee to choose the next Provost has heavy faculty representation.

3. The following hiring policy is now in place: Deans are the last stop in the hiring mechanism; that is, once permission is given by the dean to hire, delays caused by repeated requests for permissions at each succeeding step will no longer exist - the department will advertised, interview, consider and make recommendations for hire without consultation with higher authority.

4. There was a great push from the Senate to restore the graduate school together with a Dean. There has been too much that has gone wrong with the current fragmented system with seemingly no one keeping track of the entire process; applications have been lost, etc.

5. The Senate President is now a permanent member of the University president's Cabinet (!) and will have a presence at each meeting of the Cabinet. In addition, communication will be maintained with faculty by President Saunders attending (in part) Faculty Senate meetings.

6. President Saunders is endeavoring to restore a V.P. for University Advancement who would be in charge of and coordinate all fundraising activities, such as gifts, scholarships,etc., which now seems to be done on a haphazard basis.

7. ALL DEPARTMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO SET WRITTEN STANDARDS for each achievement rank in teaching, research and service. Furthermore, the departments are required to set written standards for tenure and standards for promotion to the ranks of associate and full professor. These guidelines will take cogent note of the Faculty Handbook, but be tailored to the individual department which must answer questions such as \What is excellence in teaching? " and so on.

8. President Saunders is amenable to killing the FAR as long as the institution can gather the data necessary for accreditation, SACS, and so on without difficulty.

9. The MIDAS program will be scrutinized carefully and modifid or deleted (favored by many faculty).

10. A firm email policy is being written. It may be modeled on that of Whitewater (electronic version is available on the UW Whitewater web-site).
...

This document will not be fixed in stone, but will be an evolving one which may be revisited from time to time, but must have a sound basis which all can live with.

-- Edited by Reporter at 12:09, 2007-08-20

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truth4usmAH


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This sounds like a dream come true for USM...I am so happy to hear all of these things.  Dr. Saunders is putting her words into action, and that is so good to hear.

MIDAS and FAR may soon be history...hurrah!

Truth

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Bookie


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My favorite line from the meeting (from a different set of meeting notes):

Dr. Saunders I dont think that the FAR is very useful. Im all for streamlining, folks.



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truth4usmAH


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Like night and day, isn't it? This what a REAL university president sounds like, folks. No talk about "stepping on cheeks" and such here....thank goodness!

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Reporter


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Bookie wrote:

My favorite line from the meeting (from a different set of meeting notes):

Dr. Saunders I dont think that the FAR is very useful. Im all for streamlining, folks.

 


Bookie,
If possible, please post any additional notes you have.  Reading this is like music to our ears. smile

 



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Bookie


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Other interesting notes from the retreat with Dr. Saunders:
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I dont go around the provost, and I dont let people go around the provost. Feel confident about bouncing ideas off the interim provost (Bobby Middlebrooks). He is not shy about bringing things up honestly with her.

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Question We have, in recent times, lost faculty lines with no warning. Such a situation really doesnt allow for planning.

Dr. Saunders There are times that you have to reallocate, but you need to do so by process and communicate. Things shouldnt be yanked away. You should be made aware, assured that you can fill the position. The last thing you want to do is make a bad hire.

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Bobby Middlebrooks : If the Deans do not consider the Chairs, they are not doing their jobs.

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Dr. Saunders: As we do planning we will talk about access for students to education. Online courses can have quality but must be managed and one size does not fit all. Online delivery does not serve every discipline well.

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Dr. Saunders: As far as rumors go, please send me an email. Especially if you are wondering, Is this true?

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Question: Faculty learn about changes by reading the paper. Communication is very important.

Dr. Saunders: We are trying to be quick internal first, external second and campus learns first

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Question: Any pending personnel issues?

Dr. Saunders: (with a smile) I think Im done.



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Incredulous


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Bookie wrote:

My favorite line from the meeting (from a different set of meeting notes):

Dr. Saunders I dont think that the FAR is very useful. Im all for streamlining, folks.





Printed out, the FAR would be about 5000 pages, and no one would read that on paper or electronically. The purpose was to intimidate faculty and provide ready access to information on "enemies" of the administration. It serves no legitimate purpose.

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